Ohhhh…the Winner!!

Woah!  I totally missed the noon deadline for picking a winner for my Vitalicious giveaway!  Good thing no one entered since then!!

Please forgive me as my morning has been busy welcoming Jen and Cat to town and preparing for my weekend guests and weekend fun!  :)

Without further ado… the winner is…

#63 = Crystal from Bye Bye Fat Pants

She wrote: “I really want to try their Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaTops! Chocolate + Peanut Butter = YUM-O in my book!”

Congrats Crystal!  I’m jealous!!  Send me your delivery information and I’ll pass it along to the lovely people over at Vitalicious.

A quick glance at the entries shows me that Crystal was not alone in her wish to try the Fudgy PB Vitatops…seems to me that was the most popular flavour!  Close second goes to Chocolate Mint.  Nom!!!

Superlicious Giveaway!

As luck would have it…the timing of my return to regularly scheduled programming happens to coincide with my monthly giveaway schedule!  I guess this is a bit of a thank you for putting up with my travelling shenanigans.  :)

Quite some time ago I received a fabulous sample package from the lovely people over at Vitalicious.  You’ve seen me post here and there about their tasty, low cal, all natural VitaMuffins and VitaTops.  Well, it’s now time to share some of their snacks with you all!

This is quite a package.  They are offering up one fantastic SuperSampler Pack…it’s amazing!!

Assortment of 100-calorie natural muffin tops and brownies:

4 Low Fat Deep & Velvety VitaBrownies
2 Low Fat Chocolate Mint VitaTops
2 Low Fat Banana Nut VitaTops
2 Low Fat Triple Chocolate Chunk VitaTops
2 Low Fat Deep Chocolate VitaTops
2 Low Fat Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaTops
2 Low Fat Golden Corn VitaTops
2 Low Fat CranBran VitaTops
2 Low Fat AppleBerry VitaTops
2 Low Fat RaisinBran VitaTops
2 Low Fat BlueBran VitaTops

 

I am especially jealous of the VitaBrownies, Banana Nut VitaTops and Chocolate Mint VitaTops.  I haven’t had the opportunity to try those yet…I may just have to order my own!!

Many of these varieties (especially the muffins) are available in your grocer’s freezer…but if you cannot find them, they have an incredible online ordering system with quick and easy delivery.  I foresee a batch of these in my freezer once I get moved and settled back out West.  :)

Anywho…without further ado…as usual, it’s easy to enter!

In order to enter to win this great prize you can:

• Visit the Vitalicious website and then leave a comment on THIS post telling me which flavour you are most interested in trying.
• Tweet this: “A Vitalicious giveaway! Win a @vitamuffin SuperSampler Pack from @balanceblog: http://bit.ly/ajY5VX”, then come back and leave another comment here telling me you tweeted.
• Post a link to this contest on your blog, then come back and leave another comment here telling me about it.  (Make sure you include a link to your post.)
• Do all three things for multiple chances to win!

Contest is open to Canadian and US residents.  One entry per method per person please.  I will use a random number generator to chose the winner on Friday, May 21st, 2010 at 12pm Atlantic Standard Time.

Good luck everyone!  Tell all your friends!

Ruby Slippers

Happy Friday everyone!  Holy Halifax windstorm going on.  I half expected to wake up in Oz this morning.  Just sitting here at my desk I can feel the house blowing in the breeze.  If this keeps up, I’m going to need a Gravol! 

Instead I had coffee…

Yes, I know you are completely shocked by this. :)  Sometimes I think I should just quit posting that I have coffee every morning but showing off my mugs is one of my “things”.  haha.  Or maybe that’s just all in my head?

I also felt dehydrated when I awoke.  For some reason I’m not good with chugging water first thing, so decided I’d better whip up a green smoothie instead of oatmeal to help quench the thirst…

Love the cute banana sticker!

The basics in the KA today:  ice, 1/2 banana, 1/2 scoop Amazing Meal, flax meal, spinach, UVAB

Added a cranberry bran Vitamuffin to the table cuz I feel like I should chew something at breakfast time…

I had planned on sneaking in an extra cardio session today…however it seems FH is hung up at work with my car so I guess we’ll see how the day plays out.  I’m stiff as all hell from yesterday’s massage (yes, I know that seems weird but it’s true!) and would love to sweat it out.  Must make it happen, right? 

On a personal note…C*O*N*G*R*A*T*U*L*A*T*I*O*N*S to one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world, Mikey…and his new wifey Angela.  Check out this cute story about how they “secretly” got hitched at Starbucks back home.  (My favorite Starbucks by the way.) 

I have a question.

With all of the formspringing going on, it reminded me that I wanted to ask you all a question…

Does my blog message come across? 

I get a lot of comments about my food porn but rarely any about what my blog is supposed to be about.  I just wonder if maybe I should refer to it more often? 

What do you all think the message I’m trying to convey is?

(of course if you just clicked over to formspring you know the answer now!)

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My Amazing Grass order finally arrived today!  Very exciting!  My green smoothies will go back to being a bit sludgier but oh so full of superfoods and vitamins!

For lunch you know I had to crack open the Amazing Meal!

In the KA today: 

• ice
• 1/2 banana
• 2 huge handfuls organic spinach
• 1/2 scoop original Amazing Meal
• 2 tsp flax meal
• about 1 cup skim milk (how am I out of UVAB?!!)
• 1/2 tsp chia seeds stirred into 2 tbsp coconut Liberte yogurt

Oh how I’ve missed this!

I did get hungry a bit after this because of my tiny breakfast so I reached into the box of bars in the pantry and pulled out this Oskri Organics Coconut Bar…

OMG.  It’s like one big flat coconut macaroon.  Too.die.for.

I got this when I visited my Mom at Xmas.  I hope I can find these in Halifax.

Work was silly busy…so dinner was late yet again.  This Monday I need to get a handle on things so I can start being off at 5pm!

Tonight’s meal was carby goodness from heaven.  I have been planning this one all week, since I got chicken on sale (finally!) and stocked up.

Chicken Alfredo with peas, spinach & tomatoes

I cooked off a couple of small boneless, skinless chicken breasts and chopped them into bite size pieces.

While cooking, I got the spaghetti on to boil.

For the last 3 minutes I added about a cup of frozen peas to the boiling pasta.

While the pasta drained, I mixed up a quick alfredo from a packet…using skim milk and Olivina margarine.

To which I added a couple of huge handfuls of baby spinach to wilt after the sauce was removed from the heat.

Using the empty pasta pot, I reheated the chicken pieces…added the drained pasta and peas (with a sploosh of warm water to unstick the pasta)…then added the sauce…and one chopped up tomato.

Stir carefully with tongs to coat…then serve!

Sprinkled with green onion, fresh parmesan, and ground pepper.

Fancy! 

This made about 3 servings but could easily be 4 if I’d made more pasta. 

Anyone have a recipe makeover for alfredo?  I always use the packet to keep the calories and fat low, but I’d rather make my own if I could find a healthy version.

Dessert was a lifesaver.  Crankypants girl really wanted chocolate so I pulled a Deep Chocolate VitaTop out of the freezer to have with my tea…

So good.  Truly a fab treat.  It totally hit the chocolate spot!!

Happy Friday night everyone.  I’m off to do some more yoga stretching in the hopes that I’ll be able to take myself to the gym tomorrow after another good night’s sleep.  Send me happy muscle vibes please!

Couch Time

I’m watching Survivor: Heroes & Villians while I type this so forgive me if I’m scattered or out to lunch.  I’ll save the commentary but leave you with these notes so far:

• I still heart Boston Rob even if I’m not supposed to
• Stephanie is still hard core. I love that she’s back yet again
• We’ve already seen boobs from Sugar and Cerie
• We’ve already seen medical twice in the first 30 minutes
• Amazingly enough, some of the girls learned from previous seasons and are wearing shorts instead of just bikinis

It's a totally good night for me to have the big couch and TV to myself.  I’ve been grumpy most of the day.  Up early, sore shoulder, missed workout, long day = cranky Jaime.  FH is down in his den watching some man-stuff on his computer.  :)  Probably safer for him there.  ha!

This afternoon I tried to snack my way to happy.  Popchips! 

Salt & Pepper flavor.  I liked the peppery kick.  nom!

Also an unpictured homemade granola bar, and a big handful of raisins…

And a Candy Cane Tootsie Pop courtesy of Kat:

I finally realized I was really thirsty so once I got my hands on my sippy cup I felt better.  Water is almost always the answer to snacking!

Dinner was just leftover Mexican Lasagna Casserole with more quickie guacamole…

The snack cravings continued so I tried to keep it healthy(ish).  Chocolate to the rescue!!

UCAB heated on the stove and mixed with half a packet of hot chocolate mix…

Deeelish!!

Along with my first ever Deep Chocolate VitaTop.  Y’all were right!  These are definitely the best ones.  So moist and yummy.  :)

I knew I was saving the chocolate ones for a reason!

These seem to have finally hit the spot and now I’m curled up with my Snuggie, my sippy cup, and the remote all to myself.  Sometimes it’s the simple things, eh?

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Heads up Booty Camp Fitness lovers.  Skinny Me is giving away a free four week session (which probably includes a copy of the DVD you are all coveting).  Head on over and see if you can win!

Pandora Rocks

So…Avatar…definitely two thumbs up.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and my ass didn’t feel like it had sat through a 2 hour and 40 minute movie.  :)  Although…I’m not entirely sure why people are FREAKING OUT about the movie…it’s good, but it’s just a movie people!

We went early to get decent seats.  Um, we were the ONLY people there for the first 32 minutes.  And even when the show started the theatre was barely half full.  We expected a crazy crowd!

Side note: 3D is cool, but it kinda made me pukey a few times.

Anyway…

I had theatre popcorn for the second time in a week.  Wisely chose the small this time though!  (Like the size justifies the extra indulgence…LOL).

(pending pic from Blackberry)

By the time we got home, it was straight to bed.

This morning I got to sleep in a bit as FH drove himself. 

Coffeeeee…

Lighter breakfast due to no big workout today.  Stonyfield Organic vanilla yogurt with chia seeds…

and sliced bananas and strawberries…

With a Vitamuffin…blueberry bran…nom!

I see some Booty Boosting torture and a green smoothie in my future.  Happy hump day.

Do you agree with all of hubbub surrounding Avatar?

And the Amazing Winner is…

Now seems like a fine time to welcome all of the new readers and followers to my little ol’ bloggie!  According to my stats, there’s somewhere around 50 new people visiting here this week.  Hope you all enjoy and stick around!!  Nothing like a bit of great giveaway action to lure in some newbies…bwahahahah.  Good luck to all of you!!

I promise I tried to visit each and every one of your blogs, but with 120 entries for the giveaway I might have missed a few.  Give me a smack on Twitter if I haven’t followed you back yet!

Before we get to the winner… you all have to sit through my morning recap.  *grins* (um, or I’m sure you all know how to scroll!)

As promised last night, I did indeed drag my tired ass to the gym this morning.  Just a dirty little 2.5km treadmill run followed by lotsa crunches, reverse crunches and bicycle crunches.  Not too shabby for what is technically a rest day.

Since I needed to cram some nutrients into me and since I don’t like to eat at 8am and since I’m going out for a calorific dinner tonight, I figured the best solution for this morning would be a green smoothie.

The last few I have made have been less than stellar so I planned carefully this time! 

So, into the KA went:  1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana, packet of berry flavored Green Superfood, 2 heaping tsp flax meal, 2 big handfuls baby spinach, approx 8oz unsweetened original Almond Breeze.

 

Success! 

Followed by much needed coffeeeeeeeeeeeeee…

And a VitaMuffin to fill the void until lunch time.  Being Friday I thought it was a fine time to try out the Deep Chocolate.  Nom!!

Like a treat, but still full of healthy fibery (7 grams!) goodness.  :)

OK, fine…and now without further ado…the winner of the super duper Amazing Grass sample pack is…

*clangs symbols*

[source]

#29! = chezjulie “My main resolution was to continue doing what I'm doing with diet and exercise. Some of my others include getting to bed earlier, reading more, and drinking less Diet Coke!”

Congrats Julie!!  You lucky girl!!!  Shoot me an email with your delivery details and I’ll get you taken care of.

Now, I guess I should head off and figure out what fabulous stuff I can giveaway for next month!  :)

Healthy Carbs

After a really productive conference call I was sooooo ready for a snack.  Wisely, I knew this would happen and had thawed out a VitaMuffin earlier in the day.  Cran-Bran…so far, my favorite!

With red grapes…also my favorite!

As per Wednesday’s habit I worked late to catch up on things that popped up during the meeting so dinner had to be quick and easy (seems typical around here lately doesn’t it?!)

Taking inventory on the freezer led me to perogies!  Now, FH was reluctant because we didn’t have any bacon, but I like my perogies with onions and mushrooms so he agreed.

How I make my perogies healthy-ish:

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a little doughy potato action every once in a while.  The key is portion control (calorie-wise they aren’t really all that bad) and not cooking them in a bunch of grease.

• While boiling the perogies, heat 1tbsp olive oil at med-high in a large non-stick pan.  Sautee your chopped onions and mushrooms until browned and soft.  If your pan gets dry, add a little water or stock to soften things up.  Season as desired (we just use s&p).  Remove veggies from pan and reduce heat to medium.

• Drain boiled perogies. 
• (Here’s where I buttered up FH’s to help make up for the lack of bacon.)  Melt butter to bubbling, add grated garlic, then add perogies, season, and cook til lightly crisp on each side. 

• Add some of the mushrooms and onions back to the pan until warm, then serve.  (When I emptied his portion out onto the plate, I made sure all of the butter went with it.)
• Then you are left with just a smear of butter remnants in the pan…this is what I use to cook mine.  I get the taste of butter without all of the grease and fat.  Add some grated garlic, cook til crispy on both sides, then add the mushrooms and onions until warm and serve. 

Hope that made sense! 

Alternatively, if you aren’t using bacon or butter for your companion’s dinner…then just use either a smidge of olive oil or cooking spray.

Four perogies served with half a plate of steamed veggies.  Best of both worlds!

 

A little light sour cream for dipping (salsa is good too!).

Nom nom nom!

Managed to finally get through that to-do list from yesterday (oh, gotta go put laundry in dryer!) and now just enjoying tea and Google Reader.  Guess it’s almost bedtime since tonight I’d like to sleep in our bed, not on the couch!